Dalai Lama to visit Slovenia in April

Ljubljana: The Dalai Lama will visit Slovenia in April, following an invitation by the city of Maribor, authorities have said.

"The visit has been confirmed, the Dalai Lama will visit Slovenia between April 12 and 14," a spokesman for Maribor mayor Franc Kangler told state television, adding that
the mayor would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Dalai Lama was invited by Maribor University, the city`s authorities and a secondary school to give a lecture to young people on humanitarian issues.

After Maribor, Slovenia`s second-largest city, he was also expected to visit Ljubljana, state television reported.
No details were available about his programme there. So far no other meeting with Slovenian officials has been confirmed. The Tibetan leader visited Slovenia in 2002,
when he met unofficially with several high-ranking Slovenian politicians.
China repeatedly presses other nations to distance themselves from the Dalai Lama, claiming that Tibet is an integral part of the country and that any meeting with him constitutes interference in Chinese internal affairs.